THis is my first AMD built, but lets say the main user is coming from a 1.6 ghz single core Dell laptop with a gig of ram (upgraded). SO speed will be lightning to him. Mainly, just for photoshop, with LITTLE game activity.

i know i know u said amd but the E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz has crazy overclocking capablities, people are getting nearly 4 ghz im sure some have gotten 4ghz on it, and u could still get a fairly cheap mobo from gigabyte DS3L-p35 same price as the one you have listed, just a suggestion, but other then that the build looks good

AMD might be cheaper if you are just going by the clock speed. But the 2.4GHz E4600 actually outperforms the x2 6000+ in photoshop and goes for slightly cheaper. Though I really don't think you even need that much power, my boss does Web design and photoshop work all day, she does it just fine on a E4400.

I'm gonna go with Barbaric on this. AMD is certainly nice, but for virtually no cost the e7200 is a huge upgrade. It'll outpace the X2 6000 and he'll have the option to go with something even faster if he so wishes. Chances are he won't be able to tell a difference between the two though.

Looking at the CPU Support list for that board, I am going to say that a BIOS flash is probably necessary to support the E7200 considering the BIOS required for it is F4b which I am guessing is a beta BIOS, and I highly doubt that a board from any company would come with a beta BIOS.

Pros: Great board for the price. Nice BIOS menu with lots of options. This board is Windows Vista Premium logo Certified... found that out by way of the Gigabyte website. Didn't snap in half when I had to put on Intel's stock cpu fan!

Cons: Does not list any 2gb 1066 RAM as being supported! The specs. are slightly misleading. Had to RMA my 2 2gb 1066 sticks of RAM... but that was my mistake. Before you buy this board go to the Gigabyte website and LOOK AT THE LIST OF SUPPORTED RAM!

Use the coupon code: MCAGBABC to get the 6000 for 75 bucks. This is why I went with the AMD build for him. But in a nutshell, here are my thoughts.

Intel is where the PERFORMANCE lies. It breaths there, and reigns right now. AMD is putting out some good new products, but Intel seems to have the upper hand right now since C2D came out, and really has sat there.

AMD however, in order to compete, has dropped prices to a point where if money is a factor, prices sometimes can't helped but not be overlooked. 3.0 factory for 75 bucks? Thats a great deal in my eyes and wallet. Plus, ATi in the graphics world I believe is where it is at. Sure gaming they take a hit, but if you are a graphics worker, than the ATi is where it is at.

Now, I want to address overclocking. Sure it is fun, and many of you (90% Would be a safe estimate) of this forum I bet overclocks. Heck, we aren;t enthusiasts here for nothing. So when it comes to the OC, its a different sport altogether (in some eyes). However, if I need to build a computer for say, my grandma, its much easier for me now, and later on nor to OC it for her (or whoever I build for)

Why don't I OC myself? I like my temps low. My q6600 is my best friend. But he likes to heat the hell out of my bedroom. So pushing it more would just make me not only mentally uncomfortable, but physically too. If I do, there will be NO voltage uppages at any cost.

I know a bit of a kick is great too. I've seen my roomies 6750 at 3.2 and stock. And to tell you all the truth, outside of benchies, I see very little gain. I don;t feel it is worth not having my equipment pushed further and not last as long so I can brag my superpi is .03 seconds faster, and got an extra 200 points in 3dmark. Hell, I came from a P4 3.0 laptop, 1gb (533 I believe ram) with an x600. My 8800GTX and q6600 are damn state of the art from what I came from. (I'm sure I say that too much, but I just love my rig)

I know my stuff works great as it is. To me, a reliable machine that will last is my pride and joy. Being in college, I don't have alot of dough to spend on a new CPU very so often. I hope to get 3 years out of this at least, maybe 4. I know OCing will lower that life a bit more than I want. I may OC a tid in a year or so, or just to see where I stand. But not untill winter, when I can let 40 degree winter air be my cooling.

I hope I do not come across as a "F$&K OCing, you all suck" user. I by no means degrade or not encourage it. It is fun knowing because your rig isn't Dell or HP shit, that you can have QUALITY and SPEED, plus more options to yourself than any compy maker could give. (unless you get Alienware, or some other rape-you-up-the-ass maker like it). I just want to point out the whys as to my view of OCing. Its a sport to many builders. I by no means say don;t do it.

Sorry for the long response from hell. I just feel sometimes when people ask for help building a rig, the thread becomes an OCing debate, and not helping the user with the important decision making process of the what-works and what-doesn't.

As to all the people who helped my and gave me great advice, thank you all. I will take your considerations, and look again, and crunch the figures with my roomie and see how it all comes out.

I realise the person this system is being built for doesn't OC, that was never a issue in any of my suggestions. MHZ rating isn't everything. That e7200 cpu beats the X2 6000 at stock. 45nm(cooler running), 1066fsb(same as your belove q6600), and 3Mb L2 cache is what makes it faster. And considering the 7200/GA-P35-S3G are only $3 more than the x2 6000/GA-MA69GM-S2H , why would you get the AMD?

That would make the 7200 combo about $25 chearper than the AMD. Fitseries sells alot of stuff on TPU and I've never heard anyone complain about buying stuff from him. I would definently feel safe buying from him.

I realise the person this system is being built for doesn't OC, that was never a issue in any of my suggestions. MHZ rating isn't everything. That e7200 cpu beats the X2 6000 at stock. 45nm(cooler running), 1066fsb(same as your belove q6600), and 3Mb L2 cache is what makes it faster. And considering the 7200/GA-P35-S3G are only $3 more than the x2 6000/GA-MA69GM-S2H , why would you get the AMD?

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Thanks. I'll start looking at those figures more. Is it because the AMD has a 2 x 1mb cache, and the 7200 has a strait 3mb that makes the 7200 better? I just dont know how to compare the Hyper Transports vs. FSB.

Plus, ATi in the graphics world I believe is where it is at. Sure gaming they take a hit, but if you are a graphics worker, than the ATi is where it is at.

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Unless you are buying a workstation grade card, the graphics card plays virtually no role in photoshop work. ATi or nVidia, it doesn't matter. In Photoshop a 7100GS performs virtually identically to a 9800GTX. The main issue is just getting a dedicated card to free up the system RAM used by the integrated card.

Unless you are buying a workstation grade card, the graphics card plays virtually no role in photoshop work. ATi or nVidia, it doesn't matter. In Photoshop a 7100GS performs virtually identically to a 9800GTX. The main issue is just getting a dedicated card to free up the system RAM used by the integrated card.

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This is unrelated in this debate, but Photoshop is rumored to be receiving 3D acceleration. I'm not sure if it'll take off or not, but it's at least pretty interesting.

Unless you are buying a workstation grade card, the graphics card plays virtually no role in photoshop work. ATi or nVidia, it doesn't matter. In Photoshop a 7100GS performs virtually identically to a 9800GTX. The main issue is just getting a dedicated card to free up the system RAM used by the integrated card.

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This is true, but our Graphic Design program touches into the video rendering and creation. We have one classs that is specifically Video Art. Programs such as After Effects, from what I understand, rely on the card.

This is what I "hear", as long as I have been on this forum, not ONE reply to my questions to confirm it.

Oh, and newtekie, your aviatar used to be my Windows BootScreen about 3 years ago.

This is true, but our Graphic Design program touches into the video rendering and creation. We have one classs that is specifically Video Art. Programs such as After Effects, from what I understand, rely on the card.

This is what I "hear", as long as I have been on this forum, not ONE reply to my questions to confirm it.

Oh, and newtekie, your aviatar used to be my Windows BootScreen about 3 years ago.

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It used to be my bootscreen also, and my login screen, and my background...

Anyway, what I was trying to point out was that you can put a cheaper video card in the machine, and put the money into a faster processor. You are going to get more performance for your money if you go with a faster processor and a weaker graphics card. You aren't going to get any real performance benefits from a graphics card unless you go with a workstation card, which isn't in the budget. If you are going to go with the HD3650 go with a GDDR3 version, not the GDDR2 version. The GDDR3 really improves performance.